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Now is not the time for a reasoned, constructive gun control debate. Families must be allowed time to grieve, the injured to heal, and law enforcement to investigate this yet another example of a shooter destroying the lives of innocent people.

A debate now would be too heavily influence by availability bias. A judgment flaw that causes people to overestimate the significance of rare events and underestimate the magnitude of common occurrences. Over the last few days, media attention has been focused on assault rifles. But illegal gun trade is a larger but rarely discussed problem. Eighty percent of all gun related crime is committed with these. The average person has a much greater chance of being shot by an illegal handgun than an AK-47.

Guns are a highly polarizing. Gun control advocates demonize guns, and 2nd Amendment advocates believe that the government wants to take them away. Until we establish a forum for respectful dialogue, the debate will yield little more than recalcitrance and rage. Making it all the more easy for some politicians to toss around manipulative talking points.

Sadly, I suspect that people will forget this senseless tragedy as fast as it happened. All eyes focused back on the romper room of this year’s presidential race.

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